At a Glance

• The KRG launches the Zankoline admission portal on Thursday at 8:30 AM.
• The window opens for high school graduates in Kirkuk, Khanaqin, and Shingal.
• Exactly 2,700 students from these territories are eligible to apply this year.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research will launch the official Zankoline public university admission portal tomorrow, allowing 2,700 high school graduates from Kirkuk, Khanaqin, and Shingal (Sinjar) to apply for placements in public universities.

---

Key Statements and Focus Area

• The KRG Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced that the Zankoline admission portal (regayzanko.com) will open Thursday at 8:30 AM for twelfth-grade graduates in Kurdistan territories outside the Kurdistan Region's administration, remaining active until midnight on Monday, October 19. 
• The ministry spokesperson stated that registered graduates from Kurdish schools outside the Region can log into Zankoline starting tomorrow at 8:30 AM to submit their public university applications.

---

The KRG Ministry said on Wednesday that eligible students can use the platform to submit their applications for admission into public universities across the Kurdistan Region. 

Ministry spokesperson Abbas Akram noted that applicants experiencing technical issues or complications can visit the ministry's Kirkuk office for direct guidance and logistical assistance.

The spokesperson added that graduates from Kurdish schools in these areas are admitted into public higher education institutions annually under the exact same entry standards applied to students inside the Region. 

For the current academic year, 2,700 high school graduates from these areas can access the Zankoline portal using their designated codes to submit applications.

FYI

The activation of the Zankoline admission portal specifically for high school graduates in Kirkuk, Khanaqin, and Shingal serves as a recurring and critical administrative bridge between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the disputed territories.

Managed directly by the KRG Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Zankoline is the official, centralized electronic system used to process public higher education applications. 

The online portal automates student placement into the Region's state-funded universities and technical institutes based strictly on the scores achieved in twelfth-grade national exams.

The territories of Kirkuk, Khanaqin, and Shingal are constitutionally classified as disputed areas under Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. Since October 2017, these specific areas have remained outside the de facto administrative and security control of the KRG, operating under the formal jurisdiction of the Iraqi Federal Government in Baghdad.

Despite sitting outside the KRG's administrative boundaries, the KRG continues to actively fund and support a dedicated Directorate of Kurdish Education within these provinces. These outlying schools utilize the exact same mother-tongue Kurdish curriculum taught inside the Kurdistan Region.

Because these students take twelfth-grade exams under the Kurdish curriculum rather than Baghdad’s federal curriculum, the KRG legally accommodates them into its own state university system. 

For the current academic cycle, 2,700 qualified graduates from these areas have been assigned unique access codes to enter the portal. By law, their applications are processed under the exact same entry standards, grade thresholds, and placement criteria applied to local students residing inside the borders of the Kurdistan Region.

Dive Deeper: Handpicked Stories for You

Follow Channel8 for continuous updates:

University of Sulaimani Enters Guinness Book of World Records for Largest Planted Tree Phrase

Khanaqin Kurdistani Parties Warn Article 140 Violations Pose Major Danger

Kurdistan Region Announces 20% Tuition Discount for Higher Education Students